In our house, it’s “butter” as a generic category term and “real butter” to refer to, er, real butter. I keep them both on hand because some recipes specify one or the other as opposed to saying “butter or margerine”.
Personally, I’d rather eat butter, but my cholesterol says otherwise. Stupid cholesterol.
In this instance, I’m in complete agreement with FairyChatMom, especially the bit about cholesterol.
My mother’s side of the family has always called refrigerators “iceboxes”, and I did too, until I made a deliberate effort to train myself to call them “fridges” starting about 15 years ago. It’s just one of those family idiosyncracies that get passed down, generation to next generation.
FairyChatMom and Lynn, you might find these interesting reading, since you mentioned cholesterol:
http://www.mycustompak.com/healthNotes/Food_Guide/Trans_Fats.htm
Now, of course I’m not telling you to go out and stuff yourself with butter. 
But if you’re concerned about cholesterol and heart disease, they’re worth a perusal.
Our family uses butter and butter alone. We’re healthy, although we’re not drowning ourselves in it either. Too much of either margarine or butter wouldn’t be good for you.
I call margarine “butter,” and I call butter “real butter.”
I’m here to beam a ray of hope into your life and, hopefully, guide you through these tricky shoals. (Sorry…got carried away, there, but it’s cute username :))
I grew up in a household that never saw a stick of real butter in it. We had margarine, occasionally called oleo-margarine when Mom was feeling pedantic, but generally referred to as butter. I think I was probably about 13 before I learned there was a completely different substance that went by the same name. I can now, proudly, say that I A) can tell the difference, B) have forgiven my mother for deceiving me so cruelly, all those years, and C) have never been on, or even near, a psychiatrist’s couch. (I’m fast and devious.) So, fear not for the welfare of the little® lighthouses (flashlights?). Just teach them to be devious, because, well…lighthouses are wonderful, but…well…face it, you’re just not fast.
In our current household, consisting of me and my GF, we keep both butter and margarine on hand. I vastly prefer butter, but for years I stuck with margarine. Then I saw the research zweisamkeit linked to, indicating that we’ve been fooling ourselves that margarine is better for us, and instantly switched. My GF, on the other hand, can’t stand the taste of butter, and actively seeks out the margarine that tastes least like butter. That’s some seriously nasty stuff, IMO.
In my house, there is no margarine, and when I eat in restaurants, I will go out of my way to request “real butter.” I hate margarine, and I can tell the difference instantly.
If I ask for butter at a friend’s house and am given margarine, I don’t make a stink, I just don’t eat it. So I guess I consider it a misdemeanor.
Calling Miracle Whip “mayonnaise”, on the other hand, ought to be punishable by at LEAST six months in prison.
Mayonnaise itself should be punishable by at least six months in prison. That stuff is an abomination.
Davebear, it’s nice to hear you turned out fine despite the margarine deceit that was forced upon you as a lad!
On the subject of mayo, in our household we always have both Hellmann’s (mine) and Miracle Whip-yuck!- for the hub.
I suceeded in the A1 transformation- no more Heinz57 in my fridge, but we still have the mayo/salad dressing duo!
Well, I don’t eat butter or margarine, so I really don’t care what the heck you call it. I think it’s horrible to ruin a perfectly good piece of bread by spreading solidified lard product on it.
In my house, butter is butter, and margarine is inedible. Newish research on trans fats is showing that margarine is unhealthy and should be avoided entirely.
From “Fats are Back”
In my family, oleo was margarine in stick form. When you said you needed oleo, that means you were going to cook with it and wanted it in a box.
I use margerine and call it butter. I used to be a butter snob too but as I got older my usage changed. I would never consider using either item on something that wasn’t really hot and I use it quite sparingly so I really can’t tell the difference. If I was one to eat slices of cold bread and butter it would be different.
I happen to have a copy of an annual report of the Federal Penitentiary in Leavenworth from the 1930’s. It lists how many convicts there were for each crime.
There were two that year in the fed pen for selling oleo under the description of “butter”.
So be careful!
I think they should call it “I Can’t Believe It Costs As Much As Butter.”
[Bugs Bunny]
You realize, of course, this means war?
[/Bugs Bunny]
[holds up fingers positioned in a sign of the cross]
Such conflation is viewed by Danish legal authorities as felonious criminal conduct carrying exceptionally harsh prison penalties. Mothers teaching that margarine may be called butter have their children taken away from them. Chefs using margarine have their touqes inserted elsewhere, sideways. Using the word margarine along with butter in the same sentence has resulted in newspaper offices being burnt down.
Any questions?
[runs to kitchen and hugs fresh unopened pound of butter]
If I’m at a cafe and receive margerine when I ask for butter, I ask if they have any real butter in the joint.
I don’t allow margerine in my house.
Butter is called (oddly enough) “butter” … we don’t allow anything else into the house so the word “margarine” probably sounds Hungarian or something lol…
PS what is Miracle Whip and why’s it got such a bad rep?
I refer you to one of my earliest threads. Miracle Sh!t and real Mayonnaise have nearly nothing in common. It is why the word Mayonnaise nowhere appears on the label of Miracle Sh!t.
PS: Margarine, believe it or not, was invented by of all people, THE FRENCH. Just one more reason to avoid using it.
I only use butter, so it’s never a problem.
<-- I’m sure my location has nothing to do with my purchasing habits.